Leaf Rubbings

What would the fall be without making leaf rubbings? I have done this on my own and with my students for many years. I have a pretty good stash of leaves collected that I reuse, but I am finding that over time they dry out and get brittle. I will have to replace them next year - maybe we'll have to go on a leaf walk!

This year, I finally realized how to overcome the struggle of the leaves moving under the paper while we colour on top. The solution??? Tape! Yes, tape the stem of the leaf (vein side up) to the paper. That way, the leaf will not slide around and the tape does not show. This makes for a much easier time in doing the leaf rubbing and you will have one solid line for the edges.

I encourage my students to be creative in the colours they choose. They do not need to stay with the tried and true fall colours of red, yellow, orange and brown. Many beautiful leaves were made with blues and purples too.

Outcomes: listen to and follow instructions, name colours, cut out shapes using scissors.

When we each finished 3-4 leaves, we cut them out and taped them up on the walls around the classroom. This adds a great fall feel to the room, as well as some colour, and amazing student work!

Leaf Walk

In the beautiful fall air, it is such a nice treat to go outside for a walk especially when the sun is shining. With worksheets in hand, my students and I went out for a scavenger hunt for specific numbers and colours of leaves. We walked to a park close to our school, shuffled through the leaves, selected the right colours and amounts, and headed back to the school to debrief about our findings. 

Outcomes: Listen to and follow instructions, read common nouns, read and understand descriptive adjectives, count items, orally describe items found.

The handout that we used was a bit challenging for my foundation level students. I would adapt it by making a simple chart with one column for the colour, and one column for the number of leaves wanted. 

Upon returning to the classroom, there was some debate as to exactly what colour some leaves were - was it really red, or was it more of an orange? Was it orange or really a yellow? While the answer does not really matter, the language that came out of this discussion was excellent. 

A great follow-up activity would be to do leaf rubbings (see up-coming posting). In the spring, you could a similar activity with colours of flowers or shapes of leaves (e.g. maple versus oak, etc).

Birdfeeders

As the temperatures drop and my students learn language for describing the weather, I wanted to do an activity that builds cultural knowledge and interest of the changing seasons. Growing up, my father always had the bird-feeder full and birds visited all winter long. Now that I have my own house, I have also taken up this seasonal activity with my own family. We love watching the birds and squirrels and trying to identify what species they are. 

Inspired by this link, I opted for 500 mL milk cartons, colourful paper, popsicle sticks, and non-toxic paint. To water-proof the bird-feeders somewhat we covered them in packing tape. We used popsicle sticks for the perch as well. They have held up quite well over the past few weeks.

Before we started making this project, I explained to my students that the snow is coming and covers up food available to the birds to eat. It is good to provide the birds with healthy food to help them through the snowy winter. We looked at pictures of local birds and discussed the ones that the students had already seen in our area. I am planning on printing pictures of the birds and labelling them once birds actually show up to eat! This will continue developing their vocabulary. 

Outcomes: listen to and follow instructions, review and talk about colours, develop fine motor skills used in cutting, taping and gluing. 

After we constructed these feeders, we walked along-side our building and hung them on the chain-link fence outside our classroom window. This was quite a funny experience as we stopped at all the windows and waved at all the students in their classes along the way.

My students really enjoyed the process of making these bird-feeders. For some students, it was the first time they had used the tools required (i.e. scissors, glue, tape). Unfortunately, we have not had any visitors yet! However, the snow is coming and we are ready for them!